Thanks but hit a paywall so can’t see the article.
[deleted]
It seems so stupidly easy to game our system that I can’t blame anyone for doing so.
For anyone that hit a paywall:
‘’Two sisters have avoided jail after they pleaded guilty to making false statements for the purpose of obtaining Direct Provision payments worth a total of just over €10,000.
Hala Salman Alaabsali (39) and Raghad Salaman Alaabsali (29), both with an address at Drumcondra Road Upper, Dublin 9, were each given suspended sentences of 16 months and ordered to be of good behaviour for that period.
Passing sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Wednesday, Judge Martin Nolan described it as “an unusual case of criminal behaviour” but said the sisters did not deserve to be imprisoned.
The court heard that the sisters, who have both Spanish and Iraqi citizenship, used valid Iraqi documents to claim asylum seeker payments of some €38 weekly, along with accommodation and meals, to which they were not entitled as they are also EU citizens.
“While their behaviour is to be condemned, they have no record of conviction and it is probably very unlikely that they will reoffend,” said Judge Nolan, noting that both women are working and have repaid the monies to the State.
Keith Spencer BL, defending both sisters, said they had received “appalling advice” on their arrival in Ireland to apply for asylum under the Direct Provision system.
Mr Spencer said although it would be easy to characterise them as people who took from the State, they were tax-paying contributors who gave back to the State and had volunteered with a number of groups including Vincent de Paul, Inner City Helping Homeless and the Free Legal Advice Centre.
Hala Salman Alaabsali pleaded guilty to three counts of making false statements for the purpose of obtaining Direct Provision payments totalling €6,832 between August 2017 and November 2019.
Raghad Salaman Alaabsali pleaded guilty to two counts of making false statements for the purpose of obtaining Direct Provision payments totalling €4,187 between August 2017 and August 2019.
She further admitted one count of making a false statement for the purpose of obtaining a PPS number at D’Olier House, D’Olier Street, Dublin 2, on August 3, 2017.
Garda Eimhear Keeshan told John Berry BL, prosecuting, that the sisters were originally Iraqi nationals who moved to Spain with their parents in the year 2000.
They were granted Spanish nationality in 2012 and 20145 and moved to Ireland in 2017.’’
Who gave the shocking advice?
Judge Martin Nolan again.
The smugness shines. The bill is far more than 10k
They got 38 quid a week and had to live in a direct provision centre. Not exactly ‘gaming the system’ really.
A real deterrent would be deportation and barring from ROI.
Why have these tramps not been kicked out of the country?
>The court heard that the sisters, who have both Spanish and Iraqi citizenship, used valid Iraqi documents
Well, so much for the hang-wringing about false/destroyed documentation by asylum seekers
Every single headline about the courts in Ireland :
[Insert Name] [Insert Crime] Suspended Sentence.
[removed]
Back on a plane ASAP
Its a strange story no? I mean the horrors of direct provision are over sold but its a little incomprehensible deliberately trying to scam you’re way into the system when you have an eu passport. Like what’s the end goal?
In fairness, having to pay 1.5k rent a month to continue living in the country is punishment enough.
Whats worse is the older of the 2 worked as a lawyer for A&L Goodbody.
Storm in a teacup, they paid back the money, all’s well that ends well, move on.
The comments here are kinda shocking. 10k is really nothing compared to what many others have scammed the Irish taxpayer out of. The people in power love it when we fight over the pennies and scraps they leave for us and forget about what they kept.
The big story here is why someone would purposely move INTO refugee accommodation. This shows that it’s a better option than the rental market.
Can’t they just be deported and banned from returning? I’m serious.
And before someone calls me an immigrant hater. I’m an immigrant myself, but I work and pay my taxes. Not leeching on welfare.
A lot of the comments are much harsher than I expected. My understanding is that somebody told them they were entitled to do this and they believed them. Then it was approved so they would not have known that they were doing something wrong.
Like a lad just walked away from torturing people in their homes like he was cos playing love/hate and people are enraged at 38 euros a week and how someone got accommodation in the middle of a major housing crisis.
Generally anyone who claims more than they are entitled to gets the same treatment. Future payments are garnished but you are not expected to be able to pay it back. Maybe in extreme cases.
The worst thing about this is going to be the backlash against genuine asylum seekers.
You just know some gobshite will read this and go “ah typical foreigners coming over here taking and taking and giving nothing back” and all the usual bile and rhetoric that comes with that nonsense.
‘Bleedin’ immigrants, Joe’ etc., etc., ad nauseam.
I swear everyone I see this shit it’s with Martin Nolan
25 comments
Thanks but hit a paywall so can’t see the article.
[deleted]
It seems so stupidly easy to game our system that I can’t blame anyone for doing so.
For anyone that hit a paywall:
‘’Two sisters have avoided jail after they pleaded guilty to making false statements for the purpose of obtaining Direct Provision payments worth a total of just over €10,000.
Hala Salman Alaabsali (39) and Raghad Salaman Alaabsali (29), both with an address at Drumcondra Road Upper, Dublin 9, were each given suspended sentences of 16 months and ordered to be of good behaviour for that period.
Passing sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Wednesday, Judge Martin Nolan described it as “an unusual case of criminal behaviour” but said the sisters did not deserve to be imprisoned.
The court heard that the sisters, who have both Spanish and Iraqi citizenship, used valid Iraqi documents to claim asylum seeker payments of some €38 weekly, along with accommodation and meals, to which they were not entitled as they are also EU citizens.
“While their behaviour is to be condemned, they have no record of conviction and it is probably very unlikely that they will reoffend,” said Judge Nolan, noting that both women are working and have repaid the monies to the State.
Keith Spencer BL, defending both sisters, said they had received “appalling advice” on their arrival in Ireland to apply for asylum under the Direct Provision system.
Mr Spencer said although it would be easy to characterise them as people who took from the State, they were tax-paying contributors who gave back to the State and had volunteered with a number of groups including Vincent de Paul, Inner City Helping Homeless and the Free Legal Advice Centre.
Hala Salman Alaabsali pleaded guilty to three counts of making false statements for the purpose of obtaining Direct Provision payments totalling €6,832 between August 2017 and November 2019.
Raghad Salaman Alaabsali pleaded guilty to two counts of making false statements for the purpose of obtaining Direct Provision payments totalling €4,187 between August 2017 and August 2019.
She further admitted one count of making a false statement for the purpose of obtaining a PPS number at D’Olier House, D’Olier Street, Dublin 2, on August 3, 2017.
Garda Eimhear Keeshan told John Berry BL, prosecuting, that the sisters were originally Iraqi nationals who moved to Spain with their parents in the year 2000.
They were granted Spanish nationality in 2012 and 20145 and moved to Ireland in 2017.’’
Who gave the shocking advice?
Judge Martin Nolan again.
The smugness shines. The bill is far more than 10k
They got 38 quid a week and had to live in a direct provision centre. Not exactly ‘gaming the system’ really.
A real deterrent would be deportation and barring from ROI.
Why have these tramps not been kicked out of the country?
>The court heard that the sisters, who have both Spanish and Iraqi citizenship, used valid Iraqi documents
Well, so much for the hang-wringing about false/destroyed documentation by asylum seekers
Every single headline about the courts in Ireland :
[Insert Name] [Insert Crime] Suspended Sentence.
[removed]
Back on a plane ASAP
Its a strange story no? I mean the horrors of direct provision are over sold but its a little incomprehensible deliberately trying to scam you’re way into the system when you have an eu passport. Like what’s the end goal?
In fairness, having to pay 1.5k rent a month to continue living in the country is punishment enough.
Whats worse is the older of the 2 worked as a lawyer for A&L Goodbody.
Storm in a teacup, they paid back the money, all’s well that ends well, move on.
The comments here are kinda shocking. 10k is really nothing compared to what many others have scammed the Irish taxpayer out of. The people in power love it when we fight over the pennies and scraps they leave for us and forget about what they kept.
The big story here is why someone would purposely move INTO refugee accommodation. This shows that it’s a better option than the rental market.
Can’t they just be deported and banned from returning? I’m serious.
And before someone calls me an immigrant hater. I’m an immigrant myself, but I work and pay my taxes. Not leeching on welfare.
A lot of the comments are much harsher than I expected. My understanding is that somebody told them they were entitled to do this and they believed them. Then it was approved so they would not have known that they were doing something wrong.
Like a lad just walked away from torturing people in their homes like he was cos playing love/hate and people are enraged at 38 euros a week and how someone got accommodation in the middle of a major housing crisis.
Generally anyone who claims more than they are entitled to gets the same treatment. Future payments are garnished but you are not expected to be able to pay it back. Maybe in extreme cases.
The worst thing about this is going to be the backlash against genuine asylum seekers.
You just know some gobshite will read this and go “ah typical foreigners coming over here taking and taking and giving nothing back” and all the usual bile and rhetoric that comes with that nonsense.
‘Bleedin’ immigrants, Joe’ etc., etc., ad nauseam.
I swear everyone I see this shit it’s with Martin Nolan